Hey devs!
Since having personal flags or banners, other than those provided by the DLC, might be impossible, cause the difficulty to implement the high variety of choices by players wanting personal stendarts, wouldnt it be possible to simply add personal names on the stern space of the ship?
With maybe a coupe of fonts to choose from and a limited number of charachters.

The suggestion:
Admiralty offers every player for the duration of a week 3 event vessels of 2 different rates ( rates and vessels are RNG but for all players the same) for free
To Devs:
Some time ago a rework of the Redeem function was announced, implementation could be achieved through a new tab like "Weekly Event redeem"
Details:
Every player receives 3 ships out of 2 different rates. The ships are equal for all players
Wood,build-ins are determined by admiralty
perma mods cant be equiped
only certain books are allowed
claimed or unclaimed ships get deleted after their event week to make room for the next 3 ships
Those ships are called for example "Event Cerberus" (they cannot enter pbs, but have normal RoE and can be used in OW) They cannot be captured or used as fleet
can not be traded
Event ships have reduced pve reward in order to guide players towards pvp *edit*
How outfitting with determined books could work:
Pros:
reducing fear of loss
guide players to all kind of different ships they normally wouldnt use
reducing fear of loss
give access to ships even for casuals
all players become competitive by giving them "equal equipment"
skill matters
Cons:
Could be used to troll people because free ship - but kind of same like ow captured AI ships and quantity is limited to 3 each week for every account.
/discuss

Ok having played this for about a month now I've seen the extent of the toxicity and old grudges seeming to be carried over from one wipe to the next. Ganking fleets and super alliances or nations are killing the game not that they shouldnt exist to an extent as they are actually part of the game but when always directed on a certain percentage of the populace all the time those players get tired of well playing and the population dwindles and negative reviews start happening.
So while this could be blamed on the players it falls back to a lack of game mechanics to control these certain behaviors that are wreaking havoc on the game. I think we can all agree the game is good as a ship simulator as far as battles go and the Open world is as good as you could hope for so we only need to focus on how war is conducted.
My proposal is to scrap the port taxes, if anything ports should be making you money or at least allowing for certain resource control. Decades ago we had a game created by Sid Meir called Pirates, in this wars and alliances were declared by the Ai kings of their respective nations and you had letters or marque that allowed you to kill as you pleased their enemies. So lets assume that Naval action adopted a system like this to determine who warred upon who. So for the system to work you would need.
Control Points - These would be accumulated by sinking enemy ships of that nation in OW and taking ports. Of course you would automatically get just enough to take a port when war was declared and when peace is declared all points are lost or turn into revenue of some sort. the idea here is to redirect the attention of nations around the map and give the opportunity for alliances to be made if multiple nations are warring with one at the same time.
Resource control - Well when not at war you will own precious ports that are needed to make the rarer items on the map, these can then be allowed to be purchased by nations not at war with you so they can make their flag ships or top modules which would encourage trade and supply lines.
The result would be that Over Powered nations attention would be directed around the map so no one was being obliterated all the time, your nation would only have to survive the week or two the war lasts. Supply lines would be established for players who like to trade and these would need protecting as I'm sure Ganking fleets would patrol the seas looking to disrupt this and get their PvP action maybe even attain said resources for themselves.
Of course these are just suggestions I'm sure this could be refined and improved upon but I think many would agree something has to change in the game.

Hi,
I know that I could have calculated this myself but I think it would be nice if when you were doing repairs in the openworld the UI told you how much would be repaired and how many repairs it will cost BEFORE it does it: eg: "You will Repair 50% Sails at a cost of 12 Rig Repairs" Cancel/Confirm.
Instead of: "Ha! you didn't expect that did you? Now you've no rig repairs and if you get tagged you are screwed!!"
I had a traders brig fleeted with a surprise, the sails were damaged on the brig and (stupidly) I decided to repair them a bit. It repaired them but at the cost of ALL my rig repairs! I was in enemy territory and this left me VERY vulnerable. All because I had performed a task that I would not have performed had I known.
I think my Ship's Captain might have thought to himself: "mmm maybe I should hold on to a few repairs?" rather than blindly emptying his hold of all his repairs to repair the sails on a cheap ship in the fleet.
Being able to choose (a slider?) how many repairs you wish to use would be even better!!!

Surely I just don't know a certain keyboard command...
In open world, is there a way to click somewhere on the screen and then hit "shift" and your spyglass is aimed at that spot? At least with my mouse/computer combo, scrolling around the view in spyglass mode is a real pain.
I think in combat screen, the default aims the spyglass where your cannons are aimed but I'm not even sure about that.

Hi dear Developers.
I write this post to give some ideas about oceanic navigation in OW.
One of the best things in this game is that it was GPS less, (excepting 3rds apps like vedmed map and others). But the map included is very simple and we don't have any tool to navigate properly. You should use a better and map and add to it some tools like a ruler, a protractor, a pen, a drawing compass and a clock.
To allow this you should take out the F11 coordinates tool or change the mechanics to be able to use it only sometimes in a day.
You should put some 3d landmarks in main islands, capes and gulfs like towers or lighhouses (maybe with a name over them like in the ports)
The OW spyglass should have a compass to know where are you looking at.
Thanks

Hi,
I was unable to play the game for a while due to real life issues. I have now got the ability to go online and have found out that i cannot get on very far in this game as the most i have seen on over the last week has been 8 people, and i was told that this is due to open world. Is this invite only or what? just curious as i enjoy the game but not much fun in single player on same map over and over.
Any chance i could get in if not when is it being launched?
DarkPhoenix

This game in my honest opinion has the potential to be something great, something extraordinary. I find that whenever I start a conversation about any game, especially one I have played, I start analysing it and evaluating it in every which way possible. This is THE game I most want to succeed and be something wonderful. I would very much like to share some of my own thoughts and opinions on what direction the game could be heading and what features could be included, I hope that someone at Game-Labs reads this and sees something beautiful, something special that could really be a stand out feature. I have so many Ideas flowing in my head I almost cant keep up with myself, so I am just going to share some of these ideas with you. So heres ther first main idea I have for NA...
Be the Captain you were born to be!
I think every player should be just ONE person, one captain in the open world that Naval Action should be. What do I mean by that? Well simply put I don't want to 'Own' a fleet on my own, I don't want a god dam drydock full of Ships I can just click 'Sail' or 'Captain' any time I feel like 'Changing things up', NO! For the open world part of the game this is an absolute no no. You are one Captain, one man. With one ship! One ship and her crew, You should have to manage you crew, your finances, your supplies. Keep your ship in good repair and order. I want to be the Captain of my ship and be responsible for it and her crew. Managing these aspects and making them key gameplay mechanics can also help answer questions in other areas of the game. For instance, the 'How many First Rates is to many' question, Well simply put unless you decide to go down the career path of a Naval Officer they are basically off limits to you, these things are huge, you need a Nation to build one and find the funds to run one! Which you as a simple sailor are not going to find or be able to obtain!
Managing your Ship and Crew you Say? please, go on...
This could be a really fun and enjoyable part of the game for me and is, in my opinion, vital to the feel and immersion of the game. think 'Football Manager'... By that I mean, look at what they do well. Yes its a game about managing a football team, but look deeper! How you can interact with you players (Your Crew) and how the game allows you to create a relationship with you players (Your Crew). Football Manager allows to to develop your own kind of leadership and strategy. The exact same principles WOULD work in this game if done correctly. I know a football team is 11 Players + Subs and Reserves, So 25ish players say, fairly easy to manage on a one to one basis. whereas a large Frigate would have several hundred crewmen! So on a one to one scale perhaps this is a little ambitious but you could still speak to 'Key' Personnel aboard you ship. I apologise as I have limited knowledge of the correct terminology of crew roles/titles, but we can use the Cook and his 'Team' as an example. So you have your Head Cook, he has a team of 8. You can communicate with him and he will then relay your message to his team for you, thus allowing you to manage 9 crew through one Key Crewmember. Why would you want to talk to the cook? Maybe you want to ask him how many days supply we have left at full rations before the crew are on sea biscuits. Or if your Ship takes a prize and you find some fine foods onboard, you can ask your cook if he has the ability to prepare and cook it. so for example lets say you find some foods aboard a prize you have just claimed and its of a high quality. Is your cook skilled enough to cook it correctly? If he was could your entire crew receive a small morale boost, boosting productivity and performance in some way. Another example might be to compliment the guncrews on their fine work in the last engagement, in turn leading to a happier guncrew and potentially offering a small morale boost! Again think of Football manager and how you team reacts to your teamtalk, maybe you say the wrong thing and they loose morale, possibly pushing you closer to the plank! Argh!
Bottom line, I want to be able to communicate with my crew in some way and help shape they way they operate, I want to tell my GunChief to hurry reloads for a quick broadside, not without risk, as there would be more risk of loose cannon balls and powder caches as they hurry about the deck, leading to more potential for injury and fires ect. I want to be given 'Tactics' and set my own strategy as to how I want my ship to be run. Odds are we arnt going to have fully crewed ships, especially early on and with larger ships, so managing where they are and what they are doing would add great depth and possibly tactical advantage/disadvantage in an engagement.
Key crewmen should have a Crewcard in game, again think football manager, in that you can 'Click on you assistant manager or staff's overview' to see what languages they speak, how determined they are, are they hard working, a good motivator, their leadership ect ect. I also think you should be able to release these key crewmen and hire new ones, perhaps you think you have found a better surgeon? What happens to your old surgeon? Well he goes to the tavern in the port you have just docked at to drown his sorrows! Then another (Human) captain could potentialy hire him, being able to see his 'History' and who he has sailed under, maybe he has information on a pirate or a ship you are hunting ect ect. If they become living breathing entities in the game they could be a very very cool feature.
Summary
* Key Crew - have their own 'Crew' Card displaying their details, age, nationality, relationships towards you and other captains-nations-guilds/factions ect.
* have ability scores giving the ship they sail under unique attributes, (2% bonus reload or -5% less foor supplies used each day for example or 5% heal rate for injured crew)
* manage their 'Term', how long they shall join for, their wage or 'Take' of any potential spoils
* They will manage their 'Team' so you only have to manage them, delagate instructions to them, and have them automate tasks for you, such as food rationing, deck cleaning, hull repair, ect and what/how much of your supplies to use. or Just do it all yourself!
Well I hope theres something in here that you think, hang on hes got something here! If not back to the drawing board! But please feel free to share some ideas, just be constructive about it! if you dont like something explain why and how you would perhaps do it diffent ect!
See you on the open seas... Sometime soon I hope! Yargh!
RTB